The mouth of the wise and the mouth of the fool
[Proverbs 18:4, 6-8]
If we look at the Jewish Talmud, there is a story like this: ‘The animals from all over the world gathered and were exchanging the story about eating food excitingly. First, a lion living in the jungles of Africa said with dignity. ‘We, lions, kill our prey first and then eat it.’ Then the wolf bundled his eyes and said. ‘We, wolves, tear our prey gently and then eat it.’ Animals each said a word about how to eat prey. At this time, a tiger living in India asked a snake in a hoarse voice. ‘Hey Snake, you swallow the whole prey, but why is that?’ Then the snake, which was wrapping around, said to the animals. 'But I think I’m still better than a human who reproaches others because I never hurt others with my tongue’ (Internet). What do you think of this Talmud story? Aren't we criticizing others with our tongues? Aren’t we hurting others with our lips?
If we look at Proverbs 18:4 and 6-8, the Bible speaks about the mouth of the wise and the mouth of the fool. As we meditate on these two types of mouths based on Proverbs 18:4, 6-8, I want to receive the lessons God wants us to give us and obey them.
First, let's think about the mouth of the wise.
Look at Proverbs 18:4 – “Words from wise people are like water bubbling up from a deep well—the well of wisdom” (Easy-to-Read Version) [“The words of a man's mouth are deep waters; The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.” (NASB)]. King Solomon says that the words of the wise man's mouth are like deep waters. What does it mean? It means that the words that come out of the wise man's mouth are fundamental (basic) (Park). In other words, the words that come out of the mouth of the wise man are knowledge (15:7), and that knowledge is truth (8:7). And King Solomon says that the words of the wise man's mouth are the fountain of wisdom that is a bubbling brook (18:4), which means that the words of the truth of life are abundant (Park). From the mouth of the wise Christian, the word of truth, which gives abundant life, should flow like a well. In other words, the gospel of Jesus Christ, who gives eternal life, must flow from the wise Christian man’s mouth. Not only must the knowledge of Jesus Christ be preached, but also the good news of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross and resurrected in three days, to give eternal life must be proclaimed through his mouth. We must become this wise Christians. That is why the gospel of Jesus Christ must be proclaimed through our mouths. I hope and pray that the words of the truth of Jesus Christ, who becomes life, will flow out of our mouths like the bubbling brook, so that we can share God's rich blessings with many people.
Then, let's think about three things what Proverbs 18:6-8 says about the mouth of the fool:
First, the mouth of the fool brings strife.
Look at Proverbs 18:6a – “A fool's lips bring strife ….” In Proverbs 15:18, the Bible says, “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife”. In other words, a man of rage causes contention. He is unable to restrain his mouth in anger. So he speaks a harsh word (v. 1), the word that hurt the other, causing strife. Interestingly, the fool who is easy to get angry thinks that he is right even though he is wrong and fights with a chatter. This is what the fool is. In other words, the fool fights by making noise, thinking that he is right even though he is wrong. And he easily gets angry and hurts others because he speaks harshly to the other people. I often see this while playing soccer. Even though a man committed a foul, I see him screaming that the other person committed the foul and pouring out harsh words. Especially when I played soccer last week, a man screamed in anger saying that our teammates were fouled, even though the other team was wrong. Among those words, I heard racist words against the other. Even after hearing those words, I saw the other person just refused to respond. When I think about it, I think of Proverbs 17:14 – “The beginning of strife is like letting out water, So abandon the quarrel before it breaks out.”
The fool loves strife (17:19), but the wise loves peace. We must be the wise Christians. By meditating on Proverbs 18:1-3 at the Wednesday prayer meeting last week, we learned that we must become Christians who love all sound judgment and live a life of peace as those with wisdom from above (Jam. 3: 18). And we, as peacemakers, should not seek our own desire, but also should not reveal our own mind (Prov. 18:1-2). Rather, the gospel of peace should flow out of our mouths. And we must live a life of reconciliation with God and people, and reconciliation with those who are enemies. Hopefully, I hope and pray that we all become peacemakers, and not be people who bring strife.
Second, the mouth of the fool ruins himself.
Look at Proverbs 18:6b-7: “… And his mouth calls for blows. A fool's mouth is his ruin, And his lips are the snare of his soul.” King Solomon already said in Proverbs 12:13, “An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips”. Then, King Solomon says in Proverbs 18:7 that the lips of the fool are the snare of his soul. What does it mean? Here “the snare” means ‘the trap’. In other words, the fool makes the trap for himself through his lips. When I think about the phrase ‘making the trap for himself,’ I think of this: ‘Digging his own grave’. In the end, the selfish and arrogant fool who only likes to reveal his own mind by following his selfish desire is digging himself into the trap. Not only that, but in the second half of Proverbs 18:6, the Bible says that the mouth of the fool calls for blows. A similar word are found in Proverbs 19:29 – “Judgments are prepared for scoffers, And blows for the back of fools.” Furthermore, the Bible says that fools are ruined by their lips (v. 7) (cf. 10:14, 13:3).
The life-giving word of God's truth (gospel) flows out of the mouth of the wise, but lies and evil that ruins themselves flows out of the mouth of the fool. Our lips should be the lips of the wise, not the lips of the fool.
Third and last, the mouth of the fool hurts others.
Look at Proverbs 18:8 – “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts.” Looking at the second half of Proverbs 15:4, the Bible says “… but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.” Here, the word ‘deceitfulness’ is not only not true, but also refers to harassing the listener (Park). In other words, the fool who has a deceitful tongue afflicts others with it, especially hurts their hearts with his deceitful tongue. In particular, the fool hurts the other person's heart because he carelessly speaks harsh words in anger. Not only that, but the foolish rumors of lies that aren't based on facts, so he urges people and cause commotion in the church.
When I received an e-mail from a pastor last week, I remembered Satan's strategy for meditating on the word based on Acts 21:27-36, which I meditated a long time ago. The Satan’s strategy is four things: commotion, impulse, rumor, and violence. In particular, in the pastor's e-mail, I saw that the church he serves is experiencing great difficulties, and the cause is, in my view, the work of Satan, and rumors of lies that are not based on facts, which urges people to cause commotion. In that e-mail, I thought about how painful and difficult it would be when I thought about the feelings of that pastor in the church. We must be careful with our mouths. We must make sure not to speak lies that are not based on facts. And we must try not to speak critical and provocative words with our mouths. Of course, in order to do that, we need to control our emotions as well. No matter how angry we may be, we must calm our feelings and deal with the situation calmly. That's why we must speak and act with the right situational grasp and right judgment. In particular, we must be sensitive and careful that if we say this to the other person that he may get hurt or not. At last week's prayer meeting, as we learned that Christians who love all kinds of true wisdom know how to please others (Prov. 10:32), we should try hard to say things that please others. King Solomon says in Proverbs 18:8 that the fool is a gossiper who likes to talk about other people (Ref.: 26:22). And the gossiper’s words are like choice morsels, so not only do they like to talk about the secret faults of others, but they also like to listen those secret faults. As if eating delicious food, the foolish gossiper loves to talk and listen to the secret faults of others. As a result, the foolish gossiper hurts the other people.
The mouth of the fool hurts others, but the mouth of the wise is the tongue that heals (15:4). In other words, the fool's lips speak of someone else's secret transgressions, and thus hurt the other person's heart. But the tongue of a wise person heals the other person’s wound. How does the tongue of the wise heal the other person’s wound? It heals the other’s wounds by speaking the word of God well (v. 2). I hope and pray that we can speak the word of God (the gospel of Jesus Christ) well like the tongue of the wise which speak soft words so that we can heal the other person’s broken heart.
The Bible says that he who doesn’t stumble in what he says is perfect man (Jam. 3:2). We must be perfect people of God. In order for us to be perfect people, we must become wise Christians. Never should we ruin ourselves, like the fool, by causing strife and hurting others with our mouths. Rather, we need to be wise people and the fundamental, basic truth should come out of our mouths. I hope and pray that the words of abundant life truth will flow out of our mouths. In the name of Jesus, I pray that the gospel of Jesus Christ, who gives eternal life, flows out of our mouths.